FLINT, MI -- Expect a side dish of politics to go along with the bean soup at White Shirt Day, Feb. 11.

Democratic Party gubernatorial candidate Mark Schauer is scheduled as the keynote speaker at the annual event that honors participants in the Flint Sit-Down Strike of 1936-37.

The free program is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. at UAW Local 599, 812 Leith St.

White Shirt Day has been celebrated in Flint since 1948, marking the end of a standoff between General Motors and hourly workers in Flint plants.

The strike began when about 50 men on the body line at Fisher 2 sat down, protesting the transfer of three inspectors who had refused to quit the union.

The Flint strike ended 44 days later, on Feb. 11, when General Motors agreed to recognize the UAW as bargaining agent for hourly workers.

Workers wear white shirts to send the message that blue-collar workers deserve the same respect as their management counterparts.

“Michigan workers built the middle class, and it all started with the Flint Sit Down Strike," Schauer said in an email. "As the son of a teacher and a nurse, and as a proud dues-paying union member myself, it means a lot to me to be speaking at White Shirt Day.

"Michigan needs a governor who will fight for an economy that works for the middle class, not just the wealthy and the well-connected.”